By Clint Thompson
Tomato harvests are well under way across Florida. One industry expert likes the quality and quantity of this year’s fall crop.
Bob Spencer, president of West Coast Tomato in Palmetto, Florida, discussed the outlook facing Florida growers.
“We started up about a week and a half, two weeks ago. We’ve had decent yields for the fall; I would say good yields for the fall. We’ve had a lot less rain this year than normal, so that probably helped,” Spencer said. “We also have a very good market; a strong market, so that’s been helpful. I think the uncertainty about the suspension agreement may have led to a few less tomatoes being planted in Mexico. That’s probably helped some. We’re very happy with the quality of the tomatoes also; good yields and good quality. That’s very helpful for us. We’re just really getting it going and happy to be back harvesting again.”
It is a different scenario this fall facing Florida tomato farmers. The crop was impacted by Hurricane Ian in late September last year.
“We had one farm that was basically wiped out, so we were unable to harvest off of that farm,” Spencer said. “You never know with those storms. Last year’s was a unique storm in that it was very slow moving. When they go through 14, 15 miles per hour, they come through and they’re gone. But when they come through at 8 miles per hour, it just allows for more time for stress on the bush. It really put a hurting on our bushes. We avoided that this fall.”
In fact, producers have largely dodged rainfall in the past couple of months, part of a lingering drought that is impacting the Southeast. Growers have avoided disease pressure as a result.
“In the fall, the rain breeds bacteria and all sorts of fungus and things. We just haven’t had as much pressure in those areas as we’ve had in prior years. That part of it has been positive,” Spencer added.